anybody use mandrake linux 9.1 with soundblaster live?

[bhoggett]

@WarPiper

9.0 or 9.1? You've listed both.

Either way, the SB Live should be automatically detected, but you will probably find that the sound is muted by default. Fire up Kmix or whatever mixer you have installed and unmute the sound channels.

As for the hardware acceleration, you will need to install the nVidia drivers. I haven't done this yet on 9.1, but on 9.0 it involved installing the two archives nVidia provide and making a quick change to a config file (all documented in the readme). Restart and you should get the nVidia logo before X fires up.

9.1 is really nice, specially the urpmi software management system. You may find the Easy URPMI Configurator site handy.

[bhoggett]

@WarPiper

Heh, no problem. I'm something of a newbie when it comes to Linux too, relatively speaking.

OK, the first problem you have is the root issue.

Open up a shell and type "su". This should then ask you for the root password (I assume you did give it one during installtion - 9.1 allows you to not set a root password, but that's a bad idea IMHO). If that works OK, the first thing to do is restart the system to make sure there are no detected problems, and then use the menu to select "Configuration" and "Mandrake Control Center" (this should be the last option I think). You will now be asked for the root password again, and once you type it in the Control Center should come up. Once there you should pick the hardware config... (let me fire Mandrake up and I'll be right back...) :-)

[bhoggett]

(...right, I'm logged into Linux now...)

I'm running KDE as my default desktop, so your mileage may vary slightly.

Let's go back to the point where you have just logged in under your own name. (9.1 hides the root login option by default)

Use the Kicker to go to "Configuration->Mandrake Control Center". This should come up with a requester asking you to enter the root password. Do so and the Mandrake Control Center 9.1 should pop up for you.

Select Hardware and then HardDrake. this will now list the hardware detected. You should be able to see the SB Live! (audio) under the Soundcard section.

Highlight the card and then click on "Run Config Tool". The Sound Config will now come up, showing "audigy" by default. Click on the selection arrow to the right of the text field and select the emu10k1 driver. Click "OK" and this will apply the config.

(Take a look at the troubleshooting part while you're there. It gives you some shell commands you can checke your setup with)

Quit the Control Center. use the Kicker to select "Mutimedia->Sound->KMix" The green "LED" on the leftmost slider needs to be on. (You should be able to see the muting on the speaker icon that appears next to the clock. If it's crossed out your sound is muted. Turning the LED on and off should reflect on this icon). Also make sure xmms, or whatever else you may be using to test the sound doesn't have the volume turned right down. (The reason sound options are usually turned off is to prevent damage to audio equipment should levels be set too high - better safe than sorry)

If you still have problems logging in as root, even under the shell, you may want to consider re-installing to get a clean install. (although it should be possible to fix your problem anyway, though I may lack the know-how)


 

[bhoggett]

@WarPiper

Check out that URPMI link I posted earlier. Clear your software sources list, then use a console in "su -" mode to type in each one of the urpmi.addmedia lines to the console (or better still, use copy & paste). This will add an excellent list of repositories for you, including the nVidia archives packaged for Mandrake.

BTW, the Kicker is the bar at the bottom, with the KDE equivalent of the Windows "Start" button at the left side of it.

[bhoggett]

@WarPiper

Don't get discouraged dude, you didn't learn AmigaOS or Windows in a day either.  ;-)

Drop me a line to bill_hoggett.AT.lineone.net and I'll tell you about that site and how to clear your software repository. It's surprisingly simple when you know what to look for.

[bhoggett]

Ctl+Alt+Backspace should work, but it doesn't under Mandrake 9.1 for some reason. On my system it merely logs me out.

However, doing the manual identification and killing of X after Ctl+Alt+F2 (and login as root) will do the job.

The .run file from NVIDIA will work when run as:

sh .run

and the only bit that you must change in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 is the driver from "nv" to "nvidia".

(Other features are also enabled there, see the readme file)

Just ran through the process last night and it installed without problems.